In the first year of Aston Villa’s partnership with adidas, the primary and secondary kits conform to traditional looks within the company’s template.
The third kit, however, is something different. According to the launch material, the midnight blue base colour is inspired by the club returning to European nights, while the silver accents represent the trophies won by Villa in their 150-year history.
Black is also present, in the horizontal stripes, neck and the ‘shard’ panelling on the sides of the shirt and shorts. Some will of course say that navy and black should not be seen together – your mileage may vary.
While the default shorts are navy, the shirt’s maiden appearance – away to Young Boys, Villa’s return to the European Cup/Champions League for the first time in 42 years – saw white change shorts used. For that game, the logos of main sponsor Betano and sleeve sponsor Trade Nation could not appear, with the Acorns charity given prominence.
White alternative shorts only serve to heighten the links between this kit and that made by a different manufacturer and worn by a different club a quarter of a century ago.
While Manchester United wore a white and navy outfit against Arsenal in the 1999 Charity Shield, that kit would not be seen again until the following season, when it was the second-choice strip. Instead, United’s travels during 1999-2000 saw them in navy shirts with silver horizontal stripes.
The primary shorts and socks were black but, while these appeared in the jersey’s first outing, the 2-1 win at Arsenal at the end of August, the only other game where they were worn was away to West Ham United in December.
In most other games, white shorts and socks were donned – unusually, both the black and white shorts, as well as those of a lot of other Umbro kits that season, had a back pocket, similar to some of adidas’s 1980s offerings.
The variant appeared in seven games, including the April win away to Southampton that saw United retain the title. The shirt didn’t appear again after 1999-2000, with a new navy top introduced as a third for 2000-01.
Maybe a one-year cycle was always the plan, though there is a possibility that the change was expedited due to the fact that the Umbro Sportswool material was somewhat uncomfortable and not conducive to elite athletic activity.
